As I wrote on Monday of this week, I wanted to cover Super Bowl week in New York City from a fan’s point of view. Though there have been a lot of press conferences and other things put on by the NFL that many of the media cover during the week, things slow down a bit the latter part of the week before Super Sunday, providing some free time before the game.

I took advantage of that opportunity to mark a few things off my personal bucket list. On Wednesday night, after writing a couple of stories, I went online and applied to attend a taping of Late Night with David Letterman just around the corner from the Media Hotel, the Sheraton Times Square.

I was totally shocked when I got a call Thursday morning informing me to show up in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater where the show is taped at 3:30 that afternoon. The taping was for Friday night’s show and featured comedian Bill Murray. It was an awesome event to experience live!

Another item on my bucket list was to see a Broadway play. Having always been intrigued by the Roaring 20’s, I decided that Chicago was the musical of choice. One of the stars of the show was Bebe Neuwirth. While her name might not ring a bell, she was best known for playing Kelsey Grammar’s wife, Lilith, on the TV show Cheers, and later on Frasier. The show was very entertaining and lasted just over two hours.

The personal time before the game ended Saturday with a five hour tour of New York City. We had a guide who told us a lot of interesting facts as we went around the city on a motor coach. We made stops at Central Park, Battery Park and the 911 Memorial just to name a few. We also rode the Staten Island Ferry past Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. As soon as we got off the ferry, we walked around the terminal and re-boarded for the trip back over to Battery Park.

Our last stop was at the 911 Memorial and while we were there we got a good look at the new One World Trade Center that is about 75% complete and is scheduled to open in late 2014. It was a very impressive building and our guide gave us some interesting facts about 911, the building of the Memorial, as well as the building of the new Trade Center.

The tour ended at 3 PM Saturday afternoon and I got back to my hotel after having really enjoyed the personal things I got to do. The pre-game work is over, the personal fun is concluded, and now it is time to focus on Super Bowl XLVIII. Are you ready for some football?

It should be a very exciting and entertaining game for everyone who is in attendance at the stadium, as well as everyone who watches the game around the world.

That is rather amazing that you were able to get a last minute Letterman ticket like that. Someone must have canceled right before you went online. And Bill Murray to top it off - only one of the Top Five all-time Letterman regulars.